Primal as the Sapphire Moon
by Juulna
Summary: Toni had been meaning to tell her best friends she was an omega for the longest time, but no time ever felt right! She didn't want them to think she was trying to butt in on their relationship, no, not at all. So she had kept quiet, until the choice had been taken from her. / Too bad the boys think they're already courting. [Stuckony PWP with a female Tony Stark]


**Note:** My never-ending gratitude goes to the betas, cheer-readers, and friends who held me together and reassured me that my smut isn't awful: betheflame, justanotherpipedream, deathofthestars, and of course my beautiful and exquisite Annaelle.

Thanks to Roe and the Stuckony Server for hosting and modding this event-I've had such an amazing time and would seriously love to do more events with a focus on Stuckony!

Thank you to my readers. I really hope this isn't too bad! I was so uncertain during this, but at the same time the words flew off the page, so it's been quite the journey. I'll be back with a new chapter of Hanging From a Cross of Iron soon enough. I'm more than halfway through the next one. :)

Please check out the work this is inspired by, Burned Like Ruby Fire (which has a male Tony) over on AO3, because it is seriously awesome. I loved it so much I knew I just had to write something based on it, and the remix challenge provided the perfect opportunity! Give deathofthestars your love for creating such a gem.

Have a lovely weekend!

* * *

"_**I want to be in love with you  
the same way I am in love with the moon,  
with the light shining out of its soul."  
― Sanober Khan**_

"You think she'll like them?" Bucky asked, his voice quiet and vulnerable in a way that no one but Toni—not even Steve—could bring out.

"Yeah Buck, I _know_ she will," he reassured his mate firmly, pulling him back against his chest and rubbing his thumbs soothingly over the skin beneath the hem of his shirt.

Peering over Bucky's shoulder at the two rings resting in their red velvet boxes on their coffee table, blackened antique gold with sapphires and rubies, Steve could only smile. He might be nervous, but he was also… excited.

"Tonight?" He placed a kiss on the back of Bucky's neck.

"She'll finally be ours, Steve," Bucky breathed.

"She already is, you just can't stand not having her in our bed without treating her right," Steve teased.

"_You're_ the one who was going to jump her last week—"

"Yeah, and the week before that, _you_ were going to pounce her in the middle of group practice—"

"Yes but—"

Steve settled the fight by shutting Bucky up the best way he knew how.

Later, Bucky picked up their earlier thread of conversation, sounding much more sure of himself. "Need to show her we're here for the long haul, that we're committed. That we're not going to use her like pretty much everyone else has," he murmured into Steve's chest.

That was something they'd agreed on right from the start, when they'd started courting her. They needed to show her that she was important to them for more than just what she could give them. For more than her body, her name, her wealth.

Rich, poor, alpha, omega… none of it mattered. They both wanted her—heart, mind, and soul.

"Plus, you and I both know that after last week, she's going to be getting offers left, right, and center," Steve practically growled.

His mate rumbled dangerously. "They better not."

But they both knew they would. The world wasn't kind or fair or respectful to Toni Stark—not the way she deserved.

And a newly-outed, completely against her wishes, Omega-_not_-Alpha Toni Stark was too much of an opportunity for her enemies to pass up.

At least she had her Brooklyn Boys. At least she had the Avengers. At least she had her found family.

She could protect herself just fine… but she didn't have to do it alone.

Wasn't that what love meant?

* * *

"_**I feel a little like the moon who took possession of you  
for a moment and then returned your soul to you.  
You should not love me.  
One ought not to love the moon.  
If you come too near me, I will hurt you."  
— Anaïs Nin**_

One day everything was normal—well, as normal as it could get in the life of a genius, billionaire, playgirl, philanthropist, superhero—and the next day it was decidedly not.

Well, it wasn't too bad—at least she wasn't dying in a cave.

Part of her sort of wished she were. Traumatic as it was, everything was... simpler.

Well, okay, maybe she didn't really wish that. But she was never truly at ease in the public eye—at least not after Afghanistan—much as she might seem to still breeze through high society and the never-ending dance of the press, smiling where and when needed, knowing just what to say and when for maximum effect… it was pageantry, but at least Toni's status allowed her a lot of wiggle room. Being rich and famous before even being born was one thing, but also having over three decades of fame, fortune, and infamy allowed for a lot of… eccentricity.

Which would definitely not get her out of this.

'This' being the world finding out she's an omega.

For the first time in a _long_ time, Toni had felt safe, sane, stable and… maybe even a little proud of herself. _Truly_ proud. She was doing well, she was doing good, and the Avengers had come together more than ever in the wake of SHIELD's fall. Finding Bucky Barnes and bringing him _home_, growing as friends, as family, was everything Toni had always wished her childhood could have held.

She'd somehow even managed to be basically adopted by the reunited, mated alpha pair. Steve and Bucky wouldn't leave each other's sides, but they barely left hers as well, continuing a tradition that Steve and Toni had started to lay down before Bucky had come barrelling into their lives.

Toni had somehow stumbled her way into having two new best friends, who _wanted_ to spend time with her, who put up with her eccentricities, who put up with _her_.

She'd been wanting to tell them the truth of her status for a long time, but could never figure out a way to say it that wouldn't make it sound like she was telling them just so she could get in their pants.

So Toni had kept quiet, watching the two men she loved so much that _it hurt_ at times to see them together, happy, and in love. It hurt, but it was wonderful all the same, because they'd found each other after nearly seven decades apart, against all odds, through life and war and death.

She was happy, _truly_ happy, for the first time in a very long time.

She still wanted to tell them, but was content for the meantime to let them find their feet. No need to crash their healing process with her earth-shattering—possibly friendship-shattering—news; a healing process which was barely a year and a half along.

And then some jackass had to go and ruin it for her.

She'd been outed as an omega.

She'd hidden the fact she was an omega since before she'd ever even had any choice in it.

For all her dad had fought for the rights of omegas during the war, for all that her mother fundraised for the omega shelter in Brooklyn… far be it for their _own_ daughter to be an omega.

There wasn't as much stigma these days—still more than she wanted to deal with as far as the board and public and tech industry rivals were concerned—as before the Combined Civil Rights movement, that was for sure, but her parents were the product of a different age; a polite, liberal upper class with conservative tendencies hidden beneath, which paid lip service to the ideals they championed, all while hypocrisy filled every nook of their home.

So no, being born an omega, a _girl _omega—though she knew that if she'd been born a _male_ omega, her life would have been far worse—was a disappointment to them.

She'd had no choice in hiding it originally. But then it had just become… easier in the wake of her parents' deaths when she was nine, which had left her alone in the world—for better or worse.

It was one less thing to be used against her, Obadiah had said, and she'd agreed.

At least now she was long established in her company, in the world, before the jackass in question had fucking _somehow_ set Toni and her doctor up.

He'd been arrested—outing someone was considered a crime in this day and age, even if very few people felt the _need_ to hide their secondary gender… it was still their choice to do so, and the consequences were severe to those who infringed on their rights.

Still, the damage was done.

Including, it seemed, with her best friends.

* * *

"_**This is what I am talking about:  
the bewitching power of moonlight.  
Moonlight incites dark passions like a cold flame,  
making hearts burn with the intensity of phosphorus."  
― Rampo Edogawa**_

Tonight was the Avengers' first event after word of Toni's secondary gender had been exposed to the public.

Not that she was hiding—she'd been seen out and about New York both in the suit and on a couple of walks she'd taken with Steve and James. The paparazzi had learned their lesson long ago, however—although it had taken a few tries for it to stick. They'd learned ages ago that they were _not_ safe from 'accidentally' tripping and breaking their cameras or 'losing' their recording devices and notepads… so they had stuck to their now-usual distance. Telephoto lenses allowed them to get what they wanted, while the Avengers got to go about their lives. Well, at least with the _illusion_ that they weren't being stalked.

Oh sure, one or two had _tried_ to break that unspoken understanding in the wake of her unwilling outing a week ago. 'Tried' being the operative word, because her boys had intervened—though she didn't know what they'd said, their expressions were scary enough even to _her_—and then everyone else kept a much more _wary_ distance.

Tonight was different, though.

The ball had been on the schedule for months now, and there was no way the Avengers wouldn't honor the commitment they'd made to the charity and the kind, lovely family hosting the event at their upstate and absolutely _sprawling_ mansion, garden and grounds. It was for a wonderful cause—housing the homeless in the state of New York, and helping to plan for their future—and they were competent, so much more than other organizations Toni had seen over the years. Toni had her mind set on booking a meeting with the charity's president to determine what her _very _substantial, additional donation would go towards, and to possibly provide her industrial arc reactors to power the apartment complexes they were building.

But the ball itself… well.

Toni sighed.

There were no paparazzi here, but it wasn't like the upper crust of Manhattan were really any better...

Oh, they were polite, of course. But they watched her. They watched her with many different thoughts lingering behind those eyes. Some kind, some excited, some happy… but a fair number of them were filled with anger, dreams of power and dominance, and pure lust.

Plenty of _that_ to go around.

Omegas seemed to make the world go wild, no matter the culture, no matter their gender or sexual preference, simply because of their rarity.

_Her_ rarity.

Thirty-seven million at last estimate sounded like a lot, but in reality, spread around the world fairly evenly… it really wasn't.

And alphas were always on the lookout for one of the much rarer omegas—to experience the draw and perfection of nature slotting together perfectly, of the intensity and power of the bond… of the control it yielded over the omega.

Just one of many reasons why she'd chosen not to disclose her secondary over the years, acting like an alpha, a beta at times, even the hint of an omega when it suited. She liked to keep people guessing; part of the mystery, perhaps, that she liked to cultivate about herself at times.

Plus, it was perfectly within her legal rights not to disclose her secondary. Most didn't these days, but still: screw those who were angry at her over it. Thinking she was _ashamed_ of who she was, and not truly understanding _why_ she felt she _had to_.

So yes, people watched her closely, but there were only two pairs of eyes she cared about.

Steve Rogers and James Barnes, mated alpha pair, her best friends, her teammates, her hopeless crushes… _god_, how she wished…

She looked over at them, sitting at their private table on the edge of the dance floor, every single time she could.

It was like they were trying to see into her very soul.

It was… intense. But, well, they were always intense in their friendship. That was nothing new. She shouldn't get her hopes up over nothing. It was nothing. Just friends, keeping a watchful eye over her after her secret had spilled. Hell, Nat, Clint, Thor, Bruce, Darcy, Jane… even _Sam,_ who she wasn't that close to… they were all keeping their eyes on her tonight, as they mingled and danced and drank the night away.

They—and especially Steve and Bucky, as her best friends—were just doing the right thing. Even if she could protect herself, it was nice to finally _trust_ in others, enough that she could rely on them to have her back, worry-free.

It was… she really had no words to describe the feeling. But it was something good. Something _really_ good, that she'd never really had before in all of her thirty-two years.

"Ms. Stark? Are my conversational skills truly that boring?"

Her dance partner's words caught her attention, pulling her out of her thoughts.

She gave him a dazzling smile. "No, Mr. Leyon, I'm just pondering a project that's been on my mind of late. I apologize."

He nodded, graciously accepting her poor excuse—she'd always liked that about the elderly beta—and they continued about the ballroom floor, chatting lightly about her work, his family, how he was enjoying retirement, pretty much everything but the one topic Toni was _sure_ he wanted to discuss. It wasn't like it impacted him any, it wasn't like he _wanted_ her, but he was curious. Everyone was.

Still, he was _polite_, respectful, in no way condescending like his peers, and it endeared him to her all the more.

As the slow waltz came to an end, Mr. Leyon leaned down and pressed a light, dry kiss to her cheek. "It doesn't matter who or what you are, you'll always have my family's respect. Ms. Stark," he said in parting.

Toni smiled softly, thanking him and wishing him a goodnight, as he was heading out shortly.

Her honest smile slipped off her lips as another man took Mr. Leyon's place.

He hadn't even done anything, and yet Toni's instincts were already on high alert. The look in his eyes, the thoughts behind them, staring out at her, hungry… yeah, this wasn't going to be fun.

Too bad Jacob Combe was the son of one of Stark Industries' biggest commercial purchasers, especially once S.I. had turned towards renewable energy. Born an alpha, he had been spoiled from birth. Alphas made up ten percent of the population. They outnumbered the amount of omegas twenty to one, but they were still rare enough that they were a… curiosity of a sort.

The pride of the family.

Most alphas were raised with a sense of responsibility, of care and respect and duty to omegas, their evolutionary counterparts. Most were successful at maintaining a good balance between those goals and _not_ treating omegas like dainty little things who couldn't protect themselves, who couldn't make decisions for themselves. Most were like Steve and James, thankfully, though those two took it to the level of perfection. It wasn't even a '40s thing; just a _them_ thing—she'd looked into it.

And then there were alphas like _this_ guy.

His arrest record spoke for itself—he'd even served some prison time because even money couldn't get you out of alpha-omega assault charges when proven guilty… and people were more than happy these days to provide evidence in those sorts of cases, bribery be damned. Apparently he was out now, though; she could've sworn there were still a few months left on his two year sentence.

She kept an eye on all the men and women like him who ran in their circle.

"Jacob," she greeted calmly, cooly, but still polite enough.

"You look stunning tonight, Antonia," he complimented smoothly. "Would you dance with me?"

"I—" Toni looked over her shoulder, catching sight of the two super soldiers. They looked… uh, well, they looked like they were going to… murder someone? Huh. Well, she supposed they could wait one more song. She'd told them she'd join them for a break by midnight, and she still had another ten minutes to go.

"Sure," Toni replied as she turned back to face Jacob. She placed her hand in his and he reeled her in _far_ too quickly for her liking. And far too _close_ for her liking, but the opening notes of a rarely played tango had sounded, so they were _technically_ the appropriate… _ish_ distance apart for this sort of dance.

They didn't speak for the first two or three minutes of the dance, and Toni actually found herself enjoying it, sinking into the feeling of being expertly led across the floor.

She loved to dance, and she loved to submit, two of her favorite things to calm her mind and soul. Since she couldn't do the latter in the bedroom—because she didn't trust anyone enough to do so, not anymore, but also because she hadn't had a sexual partner since Pepper, who had been her first since Afghanistan—dancing was the closest she could come to submission these days, in the arms of a properly trained, competent, and talented dancer. She could lose herself in his or her arms, in the dance, in the way they moved her body this way and that, and she could even touch subspace just a _little _sometimes, depending on the dance partner... But she couldn't let go completely, there was no way that she could. Especially not with _this_ man.

This would have to do.

Despite Jacob being a gigantic ass—she'd known him since grade school, even then displaying warning signs she was amazed adults had missed—the man he'd become could definitely dance. She let herself have this moment, giving herself over to the dance, the music, the rhythm.

As they danced, more and more eyes were drawn to them, conversations dropped, and even a few of the other couples who were dancing slowed down or moved to the side so that they could watch.

Toni knew that they made quite the picture. His black on black slim suit that mimicked a tuxedo really brought out the deep, natural tan of his Italian heritage, and made his black hair look even darker, and the sharp angles of his face matched the lines of his suit.

Toni matched him almost _too_ well, as if they were meant to be—which made Toni want to glower, because she just _knew_ that the gossips in their social circle were going to _coo_ at the idea of the alpha and omega pair who 'looked so _perfect_ together.'

Toni's own hair—black and long, usually a curly mess and drawn back into a bun—had been coaxed into more defined curls, and the strands were drawn back with a few sapphire-accented pins in the shape of her arc reactor, the rest left to trail down her back and over her shoulders, mingling with the five chains of the silver and sapphire drop necklace trailing down her completely bare back all the way to her hips. Her chiffon dress was deep black, though the full skirt had geometric patterns stitched all over with gleaming blue thread.

A matched set: the pins, the necklaces, the thread, and her arc reactor peeking out from between the scarred swell of her breasts within the low drape of her neckline.

She knew she looked stunning, especially when she moved around the dance floor, the folds of her skirt unfurling like the petals of a rose to swirl around her legs, blue thread on black becoming _art_.

When she'd boarded the quinjet earlier, she'd even made the Avengers' jaws drop, and they were _used_ to her dressing to the nines for events or just for whenever she felt like it. But she'd pulled out all the stops tonight. She wanted to impress, to tantalize, to show she was omega and that she _embraced_ this side of herself, despite hiding it for thirty-two years even while under tremendous public scrutiny.

Antonia Stark was not ashamed.

The music began its closing crescendo, intensity rising, and Jacob led her through a set of finishing moves in a beautifully precise manner. His eyes never left hers, though, and—while it displayed his talent for dance—by the time they fell into their final pose, Toni was… _disturbed_ by what she saw within.

"That was a lovely dance," he breathed, a little closer than he had been just a second ago, and Toni stepped into a neutral pose that pulled her back without displaying weakness.

Never show a predator _any_ sign of weakness. Never show a predator like _Jacob Combe_ that you wished to run away, to back away, to _get away from him_.

Jacob's hands were still held in pose, and so were hers, but she could be patient. Her penchant for disappearing quickly was well-known in the circle of elites they both hailed from, which was likely why he was holding on to her still.

Maybe he just needed his ego stroked a little. "Thank you for the dance; it _was_ lovely," Toni was being honest; she really _did_ enjoy the chance to be led in a dance by someone of his caliber. It let her feel free, let her submit _just enough_, and that was something she would always be grateful for.

Jacob didn't let her go. Instead, he pulled her closer. "Dance with me again, Toni," he said lowly—there was no question in his words, it was all _command_. _Order_.

_No one _had the power to order her around unless she _gave it to them_.

There was _no way in fuck_—

Toni went still, refusing to struggle. He was the type who would _want _her to struggle; she knew that deep down in her bones. "I didn't give you permission to call me that," she said evenly, danger and _warning_ lacing every word.

_Apparently_ he had a death wish, because he stepped in closer and ran one hand down her back, beneath the dangling chains. He caressed her ass, cupping it briefly before moving up a little to _grip_ the chains of her backdrop necklace in a tight fist. The other end of the chains dug into her throat, but she refused to whimper, she _refused_ to flinch, she refused to _beg_ like he so obviously wanted.

"No," she said—loud and firm, a tone that brooked no nonsense and threatened her _wrath_.

She could have her suit with her in seconds, from the quinjet and wrapped around her in under twenty seconds, all at the push of a button. But that wasn't necessary yet—Toni would wait, would give him a chance to back down, and then she would _wreck_ him.

By now _everyone_ was looking at them.

Good. Let them cause a scene. She didn't care; it was _him_ who should worry. He was _this close_ to getting arrested and then locked in the slammer for longer than all of his previous sentences combined.

He didn't seem to notice.

Jacob's nostrils were flaring, and Toni realized that he was _scenting _her. Her omega smell, the one she'd hid her entire life until last week, when it became an entirely moot point. She could smell _him_, too, his alpha smell rising up beneath the sweat which was mostly masking his scent. But now it was becoming more pronounced. He was… excited.

For _fuck's_ sake.

"I want another dance, omega," he practically _whined_.

Ugh, no thanks. A) total asshole, B) obviously mentally and socially incompetent, C) disrespectful of omegas, of _people in general_, and their choices, and D) not as dominant as Toni _craved_.

Not someone she could _trust_.

"No," she repeated. That would be the last warning she'd give him; already she'd been more generous than she needed to be.

The orchestra had stopped playing—when had _that_ happened? Goddamn it. She didn't want to create _this_ much of a scene, even if she was entirely in the right. Fuck this shit. Toni could see a few people starting to move towards the two of them—to help her, it seemed. They were glaring at Jacob, and another alpha was pretty much _stalking_ out of the crowd, reaching for a weapon, it seemed, holy fuck—

There was nowhere to go, surrounded on all sides, and Jacob was going to get blood all over the floor—a sucky prospect, even if she hated his guts right now, she felt bad for the host's employees—and Toni was just _so_ pissed.

Star of the show, because _of course_ this was happening to her.

God, her life sometimes _really_ sucked.

Suddenly, everything changed. Literally. One moment, nothing was happening, and the next—

The hand gripping Toni's was removed at the same time that the one gripping her chains let go—somehow without choking her even more—and Toni's back was pulled tight against the plane of a very familiar solid chest. Bucky wrapped his arms around her, growling at Jacob as he curled himself around Toni's much smaller frame.

Steve was the one who had pulled Jacob's hands off of her, and she grinned vindictively when she heard bones _crunch_ and _crack_—and Jacob _howled_.

The crowd went from dead silence to shocked murmurs—though some sounded positively _delighted_ by this turn of events—whether for entertainment value alone or because Jacob was getting royally put in his place, it honestly didn't really matter to Toni right then.

Toni squirmed in Bucky's grip, but quieted when he nuzzled his cheek against her own.

Her breath caught in her throat on a gasp, and she melted even more at the rush of his alpha scent filling her nose and throat and lungs.

God, she was so _fucked_.

Steve snarled as he released the other man, letting Jacob stumble back, whimpering and clutching his arm to his middle.

Steve stood poised and ready to fight, directly between Jacob and Toni, and she was both grateful she didn't have to look at the asshole's face anymore, but also disappointed that she couldn't see his expressions when Steve started his Boy Scout Leader speech. Any moment now, any mo—

"I believe the lady told you no," Steve started, cuttingly. "Twice, at _least_. Three, if you count the awful faux pas of using a name she hasn't granted you. Did your parents not teach you right, boy?" Bucky snickered just a little against Toni's ear, though he was still holding himself stiffly, wrapped around Toni like he wanted to hide her from all eyes. His hands, though, were anything but, running up and down her arms as if he was reassuring himself that she was _alright_. That she was… his?

No, not in her wildest dreams.

Steve didn't miss a beat, though she was sure he'd heard Bucky, because his voice lost _just_ a little bit of the condescension he reserved for his PSA videos; the ones Bucky and Toni teased him mercilessly over. Either way, Jacob was looking like he wanted to be anywhere _but_.

"—because _that_ is _not_ how an alpha treats an omega—or _anyone_, for that matter. Alphas are to be the _epitome_ of graciousness, protection, and _respect_. We are not inherently better, we are not _entitled _to any omega's affection or any particular status in society. We are expected to _work_ for it. To _earn_ it. It is a responsibility, it is a privilege, not_ a right_. And furthermore, you have _zero_ right to _our_ omega, in any situation other than what she allows, _especially_ in public—"

Toni stiffened in surprise. Surely he was just saying that. Surely it meant nothing. Or if it did… it must be out of pity. That had to be it. Or—oh! He must mean that because they were friends. Yeah. Yeah, it was. She was sure of it. It was the same thing as her calling them _her_ Brooklyn Boys, even in front of other people. Same thing, really.

Surely...

"—You do not touch another alpha's omega like that in front of hundreds of guests. You are a disgusting piece of filth and I don't want to see your face _ever_ again. I know who and what you are, Jacob Combe. You belong in jail for so much longer than you've been there already. If I see you again, I _will_ make your life a living hell until you beg at the prison gates to be let back in. I don't give a damn if that's not what you think Captain America should do—because this is _Steve Rogers_ issuing the warning on behalf of James Barnes and Toni Stark. Not the Avengers, just us three, though I'm sure the others would want a piece of you too."

And with a growled, "Stay away from what's _ours_," he turned around and held his elbow out to Toni, body relaxing and his features calming immediately upon catching sight of her.

Toni looked up, wide-eyed, at Steve. He was… god, he was _gorgeous_ and _glorious_ like this. Righteous scorn was still dripping from his expression, but it softened even further when his eyes met hers. Toni wanted to say something, _anything_, but she was speechless—competence was fucking _hot_, her ultimate weakness, and oh god he had it in spades, he and James—so she gave him a very appreciative, very soft, but also very mischievous smile, one morphing into the other into the other, and she gripped his hand in hers instead of linking arms with him.

James clasped her other hand with his metal one, cool against her skin, before he shared a very loaded look with Steve. Within moments they were walking through the crowd, their murmurs growing louder as they passed, enough to overtake the sound of Jacob's pitiful whining.

Toni was guided towards the large patio doors, already thrown wide open to let in the beautiful late summer breeze. Their path may have been easy because people were making way for them, but all eyes were on them. Toni held her head high and squeezed the hands of her Brooklyn Boys.

Once they were outside, the near full moon shining brightly and competing with the soft glow of the garden's accent lights, Toni finally let her shoulders slump. The men were still holding onto her hands, but they let their grips relax almost simultaneously as they turned onto one of the furthest paths in the garden.

They'd all been silent up to this point. Toni, at least, was loath to break the silence that had fallen over them. She didn't really know how to address what had happened with Jacob, or even what to say about the _thing_—her privacy being violated and the truth let out about her status—and it had been hanging over her head all week like a cartoon stormcloud. She hadn't spoken about it with _any_ of them. No one except Pepper and Rhodey, who'd already known she was omega.

"Where are we going?" she finally asked, keeping her voice hushed. The night, the moon, the shadows, the crickets even—all of it contributed to a beautiful atmosphere that made her feel like she should keep as quiet as possible.

The men certainly were, moving down the path, further and further from the mansion, with smooth elegance and deadly, quiet grace. Toni, on the other hand, couldn't help the soft susurrus of her dress against her legs or the soft tapping of her low heels on the flagstones.

As the flower garden fell further and further behind them, she could smell the scent of her own arousal at the situation starting to rise, something she wasn't used to after having been on suppressants for so long, but there was another scent there, under her own, and—

"There's a small lake at the back of the property," James replied, just as quiet as she.

"We could've gone back to—"

"Indulge us for just a little, please Toni," Steve pleaded gently.

"Let us do this," James added.

Toni wasn't sure what it was they wanted to 'do', but their words and tone made her shiver just a little. No, Toni, don't think about _that_—

As Toni's famously fast mind went into overdrive, she wryly lamented to herself that it was too late. Toni was already imagining the boys taking care of her, telling her what they wanted, doing what _she_ wanted based almost entirely on instincts and knowledge of _her_ as a person. Calling the shots, directing her movements and her _pleasure_. Letting her give up control for _just a little_… _God_—

"Okay." She barely got the word out, and then shut her lips tight so that she didn't accidentally spill her _way too dirty_ mind into the conversation, scaring and scarring her best friends for life. Even Rhodey hadn't forgiven her for that time she'd thought the phone call was from her friends-with-benefits over at MIT, but turned out to be him instead. Yeeeeeeah, no. Mouth closed it was.

She could hear the soft lapping of water against wood before they reached the end of the grounds. Nearly five whole minutes of walking in comfortable silence later, and Toni was happier than ever that Pepper had forced her into dealing with her phobia sooner than later. The sound of water didn't set her off anymore, and she could handle a lot of things that dealt with water these days.

The body of water had probably started off as a swale, but the uber wealthy were nothing if not creative—she should know—and it had been built into a small lake. A large party deck framed one side, and Toni could see a large built-in grill and some tables catching the moonlight as she and her boys made their way towards the lake edge. If she was going to have some modicum of say in what their 'do' was, she wanted it to include sitting and taking off her shoes.

Toni smiled and picked up her pace, pulling the boys along with her to the end of the path they were walking on, where the stones merged seamlessly into the wood of the large, well-made dock. There were some benches built into the rail, but that wasn't what she was aiming for right then.

She squeezed their hands and then dropped them—though reluctantly so—in order to plop herself _quite_ ungracefully at the edge of the deck, her shimmering, many-folded skirt getting all scrunched up beneath her and fanning out in all directions. Really, skirts were such a _hassle_ sometimes, but she'd looked amazing on the dance floor, and really, it wasn't like the boys were going to sit _that_ close…

Okay, never mind.

Steve unbuttoned his jacket and then sat down right next to her, James following suit a handful of seconds later on her other side.

They were close, but really— was this any different than the countless times she'd fallen asleep and drooled in their arms during a friendly cuddly movie session?

Yes, her brain told her. Yes, because _then_ they hadn't known she was omega. Well, she hadn't told anyone her real secondary, and no one was rude enough to have asked, and it wasn't like she'd smelled like an omega, her hormones often suppressed from drugs and shampoos, and banked since Afghanistan anyway, so really… Still, though, she knew they'd thought her an alpha most of the time because of her personality, attitude, and physical capabilities and muscle definition—not to mention the said suppressants, which she was off of now anyway since _duh_, no point, really. It wasn't their fault they'd thought so. Everyone did.

But they hadn't cuddled or hugged her since they found out she was omega, not like they used to. _You didn't give them the chance to,_ she reminded herself. Because she hadn't. Sure, she'd done a lot of the same things, kept to her schedule, but she hadn't initiated any contact… and neither had they.

So it was sorta on all of them. Maybe.

Which was stupid, because she didn't want anything between them to change, just because everyone knew she was an omega now, just because everyone could _tell_, now that she wasn't keeping it on the down-low. Though friendships had ended over a lot less, she supposed.

Toni frowned, mulling on those thoughts as she lifted her foot less-than-daintily from under her flowing skirts, undid the buckle on her shoe, slipped it off and threw it behind her, over her shoulder. She gave her other foot and shoe the same treatment—the heels would be just fine, they'd suffered worse, that designer was a godsend—and then let out a throaty groan of pleasure as she plunged her feet and calves into the cool water of the lake. She let her head fall back and relished in the moment, her eyes taking in the stars and bright, nearly full moon filling the night sky before letting her eyelids flutter shut.

_Heavenly_.

She heard and felt the boys shifting beside her, the soft brush of cloth on cloth, cloth on skin, laces unraveling, and the thump of four shoes, one after the other being thrown behind them—Toni smirked, but kept her face turned up to the sky—socks being removed and thrown just the same, and pants being rolled up past the knee, before bare feet dipped gently into the water on either side of her own.

They sat like that for a while. Toni wasn't sure for how long, but it was long enough for her mind to actually _clear_, for once. Nothing but the natural background noise of the lake and gardens—the party noise too distant for her ears to pick up—which was super soothing, and it reminded her of the barely-there buzz of the background noise on Bucky and Steve's floor, where she often fell asleep on their couch, sleeping better than she did anywhere else and somehow waking up in her own bed after a full night's sleep. Her mind finally started to drift, calming down from the earlier fuss at the ball, from her confusion, her anger, her anxiety, her need to control everything so that no one could ever take advantage of her.

Except for those she wanted to.

… and _that_ wasn't ever going to happen.

But as long as she could keep everything how it was, as long as they could return to what they were before they knew she was omega…

"I don't want anything to change," Toni whispered to the two of them, knowing they could hear her. "Can't we just go back to what we were? I don't want to lose your friendship."

The men went eerily still beside her, and Toni opened her eyes, bringing her head back down so that she could look at Steve to one side, and James the other. The expressions on their faces made it immediately apparent she'd said something wrong. Something _bad_.

Oh shit.

What had she said? What did she do or say to make them react like _this_?

God, she was terrible at this. She'd been doing _so_ well before everything had just blown up in her face. But, of course, reality pretty much existed solely to fuck with Toni. She'd been due for a fuck up, due to stumble over herself, for quite some time now.

She'd had a few good months, at least.

Didn't mean she'd go down without a fight, though—this friendship meant the world to her. Her _whole_ world, because it was complete with these two in her life. She wasn't giving this up, and she'd make sure that they understood that.

That they would treat her no differently now than before they'd found out she was _omega_.

Of course, her mouth was ahead of the game, and she opened it before she'd even thought out what to say. "I just want us to go back to how we were before all of… _this_! I mean, I knew something was bound to happen, but I was holding out hope it wouldn't affect our friendship. But of _course _it did! The world hates Toni Stark, so of course you two were going to look at me different—though I'd expected alphas to at least be better about it, because you're from a minority culture too. Or not, ugh, this makes more sense in my head!

"But I figured you'd at least _talk_ with me! Most everything is the same as it's always been, except that you haven't _said_ anything on the big topic hanging over us since you found out I was an omega. And you've been acting differently, like you don't want to touch me anymore—which is fine, really! That's _fine_. You're my friends, not my husbands—I'm unmated and unbonded... even if you didn't know there was an omega literally drooling all over your new sweatshirt while trying to teach you that _yes_, _Die Hard_ _is_ a Christmas movie, and the best one at that! Movies just aren't the same without snuggles, and I keep waking up on your damn couch, comfy as it is, instead of in my bed, since nobody is carrying me there when I pass out during a movie anymore, but the least you could do is wake me up! I mean seriously, what about me being omega changes the status quo? Did I suddenly look threatening, like I was going to throw myself on one of you and ruin the beautiful, romance of the ages relationship you've got going on there? Hell, even if I did have that in mind, I know when someone's uninterested! It must have been uncomfortable for you to whatever-the-fuck _claim_ me in front of so many witnesses, but I thank you for the attempt at protection, even if I don't need your pity— What the fu—"

Toni's ranting, getting louder and louder, then faster and faster was cut off by a rumbling growl. Seconds later, a hand in her hair and lips slanting over hers succeeded, at least temporarily, to shut her up.

From out of _nowhere_.

Fuck, wow, okay, it was from whoever was to her right, she was pretty sure she'd known who was there not even a minute ago, but her brain was too busy blue-screening to really be able to process much more beyond that.

Holy _fuck_.

It was—oh, _oh_, it was Steve's lips on hers, over hers, pouring emotion into the kiss despite the fact he was keeping it chaste. _Chaste_—hah! There was nothing _chaste_ about this kiss. Just because they weren't _frenching_ didn't mean it couldn't be goddamn _hot_ and _passionate_ and _fuck_ those were James' hands trailing from her collarbone and then pressing firmer and tighter as they swept down her arms until they were wrapped around her wrists _just the way she liked it_ oh _fuck_ how did he _know_—

Toni whimpered against Steve's lips, trying to press closer against him, just riding this train of _nothing making sense but fuck it, just go with it_, trying to enjoy every moment she could have, everything that they would give her—but she wanted to be closer to James as well, and just—

She was pulled abruptly from the kiss by the men—goddamn _super soldiers_—switching who had control of her wrists without her even noticing, pulling her towards Steve while James placed a hand on each side of her face, turning it towards him.

She was off balance in more than one way; her mind whirling, her body tilting precariously between the two of them, twisting and turning about. And yet she knew she was _safe_, that they _had her_, even though she also had zero clue what was going on.

More than happy to go with the flow until James placed a gentle, but short, kiss to her lips and then pulled back just to _look_ at her, eyes roaming across her features and never settling in one place for long.

Oh _god_, she could feel herself getting wet, feel her body absolutely _craving_ and desiring what her mind could only guess at, craving and desiring what she _wanted_, craving and desiring everything promised in those two kisses, different as they might be.

Toni was just about to ask what was going on, _finally_, when James caught her scent, dipping his nose in towards her neck, slowly, slowly… pushing her towards Steve, who still had a firm grip on her wrists… and then pushing his face directly into that oh so _sensitive _spot behind her ear, under the flow of her hair, and pushing her finally, fully, against the hard line of Steve.

Even more off balance, her feet barely in the water anymore, practically in Steve's _lap_… and feeling safer than she had in weeks.

James started to place soft kisses against her neck, alternating with these little _licks_ which were driving her goddamn _crazy_, and his hands started to wander—from her face, to her neck, her shoulders, down her arms and over Steve's, until they were gripping the fabric of her dress and _oh_—

She almost missed Steve's words, whispered against the ear opposite where James was exploring.

"So… I take it we _haven't _been dating for the last six months, let alone courting you for two of those?" Steve asked, voice mostly even but laced with incredulity, humor, and sheepishness alike.

Toni was sure she knew English. Words, she's good at them. Or she was until James Buchannan Barnes decided to use her neck as some sort of sensual _mmmmfff—_

She pulled away with some sort of willpower she hadn't even known she wanted to possess until that moment. She didn't really even care now, she wanted to get _lost_ in them right the fuck now, but she also needed to clear things up—_right the fuck now_, because _what the fuck_.

"We have _not _been dating!" she panted out. "We have most certainly not been courting, because I think I would have remembered you _asking me_." There were _rules_ for that, damn it. Somehow, some way, she managed to direct her glare at the both of them.

Unfortunately—or _fortunately_—she had twisted herself until her legs were basically draped over James' lap, and her head was in Steve's, and she was looking up at these two gorgeous _idiots_, glaring at them, and just…

"Ugh, what the _hell_?" she practically sighed, deflating just a bit.

The two of them leaned over her a little more, Steve's hands lightening on her wrists and James somehow navigating the voluminous folds of her dress so that he could get his hands on her legs.

On her _slick_, oh—fuck it, she felt like she was allowed to enjoy that one.

The look on his face showed he _definitely_ agreed.

His hands crept a little higher, pressing firmly over her knees, grinding through the slick and coating her even further, and she couldn't help the moan that stuttered out from between her lips, caught deep in her throat.

"Fuck," she whispered. Her eyes closed, pretty much of their own volition.

James bent towards her, hands sliding up her legs, carrying her skirts up with them.

"Buck," Steve said firmly, though not without amusement, his voice rumbling in the chest pressed against the back of Toni's head. "We were gonna give her the rings first."

The words took a moment to register—and even then Toni was confused.

"But we— we've been… we… what?" Toni cut herself off, embarrassed but not surprised. These assholes could get her stumbling over her tongue in a hurry, and relish in it, like James was doing right then as he smirked at her from up the length of her body.

"We've been bringing you courting gifts; did you think those were just for fun?" he asked, smirk slipping just a little as he took in her honestly confused expression.

"Those were… what. What the. Oh god, am I that dumb?" she groaned, eyes fluttering closed, but her wrist was still being held firmly, though not ungently, in Steve's hand, so she couldn't cover her face the way she wanted to.

"We've been dating for six months, Toni," Steve said in his most patient voice. Toni found herself settling, even if just by habit.

"I'm sorry, I… oh god, you must think I'm awful, like I don't care, like I didn't cherish those gifts the way I was supposed to, but I _did_, I promise I did, I just told myself there was no way they were what I _wanted_ them to be, no way they were _courting_ gifts, no way they were dates. I just…" Toni whimpered, and James let out a distressed sound of his own, burying his face in her skirt even if just for a moment before looking up at her, a _mission_ practically in his eyes.

"Doll, it _was_ real, you weren't imagining it," he said firmly, leaning back a little, pulling his hands back inch by inch.

She wanted them back on her _immediately_… but she settled, she waited.

Toni Stark could _occasionally _be patient.

"Our first date was at that Dodgers game, you remember?" Steve asked, voice cracking with emotion.

"That was…?" She peered back and up, catching Steve's eyes, and calming at the _care_, and _devotion_, and even the part of him that was laughing at her, at them, at the situation that seemed so… _them_.

Because of course she'd somehow managed to stumble her way into a relationship via Comedy of Errors.

"Oh," she said, voice soft, understanding dawning over her.

"Can I give her the rings yet, Stevie?" James asked, and Toni adjusted her head and shoulders in Steve's lap so that she could see James clearly. His voice was low and dark, and that was in his expression and bearing as well, but mostly…

And then Toni had to go and put her foot in it—but she had to, she really did, because this was her greatest fear, the thing she had so desperately wanted to avoid, been _warned about_, chastised about, ridiculed about as a child growing up… and she needed to make sure.

She _had_ to.

"You just want me 'cause I'm omega," she whispered, eyes closed tight, waiting for the anger to come.

"Oh baby, Toni, lovely, no, _no_—" James started immediately, cutting himself off as Steve took over, _alpha_ radiating through his tone, _dominance_ brooking no argument, and yet mixing it all with words that were so _Steve_ that it couldn't help but ring true for Toni.

"But we were gonna ask you anyway, sweet thing. We were going to ask Alpha Antonia Stark to have pity and look our way. To be with two other alphas who just couldn't get her out of their minds. We were going _crazy_, Toni."

Silence reigned between them as she took the time to parse the words, even while her body _thrummed_.

"And now?" she asked, stubbornly pushing ahead. She had to know _for sure_.

"Doesn't change a thing. We want you the same now as we did then. Ask JARVIS, he knows. Hard to hide anything from him, but it's not like we wanted to. We wanted his approval," Steve said firmly.

"His approval?" she repeated, breathless. "What do you need his approval for?"

"To ask you to be ours. To be our mate," James cut in.

Toni's breath caught in her throat. "Really?" she whispered.

That was… that was so much more than just _rings_, more than just _wife_, but…

She laughed. "I'm sorry, I'm not laughing at you, I'm laughing at us, at _me_, I should have _realized_—"

Steve let go of one of her hands and cupped her cheek, looking at her intently even though she was upside down in his lap. "Doesn't matter if you didn't realize, as long as it was _real_."

"It was more than real for us," James added huskily.

"Be our mate," Steve continued.

"We can laugh at our dumb asses later, I want you _so bad_," James growled.

"Rings _first_," Steve commanded. Toni would have gone weak at the knees if she hadn't already been sprawled across both of their laps.

They both looked at her intently, with bated breath, waiting for her answer.

"Yes. It was real. _Please_," Toni groaned after a long moment, though she wasn't even sure what she'd been waiting for.

She knew _exactly _what she wanted. It was what she'd wanted, dreamed, _hoped_ for, for the last year. For more.

The last six months had been heaven, had been hell, had been _beautifully perfect_, and now she knew why.

She wanted _this_.

Wanted them.

Steve hauled her up and back onto the deck along with him, turning her around so she was straddling his lap, puffy chiffon ball gown and all, necklace swaying over her bare back and her arc reactor shining over their skin from between the draping folds of her halter top, his back pressed against one of the posts. James was on her right within seconds, and he lifted her hands to his lips, first her right, and then her left, before cradling it in his metal palm, Steve's wrapped beneath it… and James slid two _gorgeous_ rings onto her heart finger.

They were…

"They're perfect." And they were. They… god, they understood her so well, how had she _missed_ this?

Her eyes teared up at the thought, and she clenched them shut, briefly, before opening them again and taking in the way the blue matched her arc reactor perfectly, how the red was just the right shade, how the gold was contrasted gorgeously by the antiquing, muting the shine just a little while adding so much class, elegance, and… well, the air of the '40s.

They were gorgeous, but she was more concerned with the hands cupped beneath hers, still as ice, waiting for her to make the first move, she could just _tell_.

God, she loved them so _much_.

"I love you," she gasped out, no longer able to keep it in as soon as the thought passed through her mind, meeting first one burning blue gaze and then the other. "I love you both so very much, and I'm _so sorr_—"

Toni was manhandled again—not that she was complaining, no, not at all—and when her world stopped spinning, she was looking up at her Brooklyn Boys. _Hers_. With the nearly full moon above their heads and her arc reactor lighting them up from below, they were cast in beautiful shadows that danced all around them.

She shivered, and her back arched practically without her consent, the chains of her necklace digging into her spine deliciously, trapped between her body and the smooth wood of the deck.

_Fuck_, they were hot.

"We said we'd talk about that _later_—" James started.

Toni cut him off—this time it was her _mouth_ running without her consent, though that seemed to be the usual with _these_ two. "Later, later, _later_. You keep saying _later_. Fine, but you better _do_ something now."

The words were a challenge, but they were also banter, repartee. Words that put them back into their familiar dynamic, a familiar frame of reference, but with new connotations, new memories that they could create to _add_ to that dynamic.

She couldn't wait.

"I think the lady wants us to fuck her," Steve growled.

"I think _our omega_ wants us to do with her what we want," James corrected him, and even through the night, light as it might be, she could pick out the glint in his eye.

Toni didn't need to say a damn thing.

She bared her neck, tilting her head back and _submitting_, though she kept a tight grip on them, one shoulder each.

She didn't want to stop touching them.

They were _hers_.

And she was _theirs_.

"Fuck, Toni, _omega_," Steve gasped out.

"What do you want, sweetling?" James ground out, as if he was barely controlling himself—but he was interested in her answer, wanted to _please her_, she could see it in the rawness of his expression, nothing hidden from her…

She wanted them to _touch her_, goddamnit.

She squirmed under them, and Steve and James moved as one to grip her wrists. They pulled her hands from off their shoulders, pinning them to the deck beside her head. Her eyes widened, and she just…

… she _melted_, letting go, submitting even further.

"I want to be _yours_," she whispered with bare honesty. "Take me, have me, do what you want with me, just…"

Steve cottoned on first. His eyes widened, then softened, then hardened again with lust. "You want to let go of some of that control, don't you baby?"

She shouldn't be surprised that he understood exactly what she meant, but even so, her eyes widened just a little as she nodded her head.

"Been a long time, hasn't it, doll?" James added, catching on. He rubbed his metal thumb over her ankle bone, before running his palm roughly up her leg and straight to her core.

Toni gasped, whimpered, and then kept as still as she could when the both of them squeezed her wrists—practically in sync, fuck that was _hot_. But James' hand cupping her was even hotter and she found herself focused almost entirely on it, the hormones in her slick flooding the air as he brushed through it.

"Let us take care of you," Steve said.

"Only you," she gasped out, wanting them to know. "Only you since Pep, only her since Afghanistan. Only ever wanted it to be you both for, for… _years_."

"Fuck, doll," James groaned.

"Only us now," Steve growled, satisfaction lacing every letter.

"Bond with us," James rumbled, letting go of one of her wrists and bunching up the fabric of her dress. The cool air on her heated skin felt like _heaven_, but his touch, searing across her bare skin, was even better.

Alpha hormones mingled with hers in the air, declaring for all and sunder exactly how much they wanted this.

_To bond_. To be _one_.

God, she couldn't believe her _luck_—her dreams, answered… everything she wanted at her fingertips.

"What the hell do you think my answer is?" she retorted playfully, bucking her hips up against the hand over her cunt.

He gave her a heated look, she whispered, "Yes, _fuck_," and then there were no more words. Mostly because Steve laughed and claimed her lips, framing her cheek with his free hand as he kissed the air right out of her lungs and then practically gave it right back to her, or so it felt. There was just him, his lips, his tongue, and then—

Her dress was pushed all the way up past her hips and her panties quickly pulled right down her legs to disappear _who knows where_, her knees were hiked over his shoulders, and then he goddamn _stopped_.

The fucker _stopped_.

Toni tore her lips away from Steve's and gave a half-hearted glare at the little shit. "You better finish what you started, _Barnes_," she panted.

"Hmm, darling, I thought you wanted us to control how this went, didn't you?" he drawled, then placed a wet kiss against her knee.

Toni squirmed, arousal spiking, and then squirmed some more when Steve started to kiss down the side of her throat and over her collarbone, before coming to a stop and laying his cheek against her covered breast, looking down the column of her body and taking in his lover.

_Their_ lover.

Soon. She hoped. If they could get a damn _move on_.

"Want you _now_," she whined. "Waited so long. Do you know how many nights I went to bed _alone_, while you thought we were _courting_? I could've had you _months ago_."

Steve chuckled and let go of her other wrist, using that same hand to prop himself up while the other started pulling aside the draped neckline of her dress. He left it clasped behind her neck, but pulled both sides open, baring her breasts, the glow of her fully-uncovered arc reactor bathing them even further with light.

"You heard her, Buck," Steve ordered gruffly. "Better get her ready. She wants us _now_." His lips ghosted over her breasts, one then the other, back and forth in a dizzying rush that made Toni's brain slow to molasses.

"I'm ready now, what are you talking about?" she panted, digging her nails into the wood beneath her. Of _course_ she was ready. She'd been wet even before her hormones had decided to slick her up even more, and that was forever ago, damn it.

"Hm, nope," James hummed happily, alpha smugness lacing it all, even the air—his scent was _intoxicating_. He continued, "You're not ready the way we want you, and you said it was _us_ who decided." He finally laid a finger on her cunt, skin to skin, only to pull it away almost immediately. He tilted her hips up just a little more and then he was circling her _other_ hole with precision.

"Oh," Toni gasped, understanding dawning.

She was fucking down with _that_.

It had been years, so many years, since she'd last had two men at once—_no one_ like her Brooklyn Boys, hell no—and her back arched immediately, her cunt clenching around nothing, and a new rush of wetness seemed to leak from her, down from her cunt and tracing back slowly, only to join up with James' finger as he looked on in delight. Her normal wetness would help, but her _slick_ would relax the muscles of her ass even further—she'd never experienced double penetration with slick easing the way, but she had heard from friends and lovers alike… and it sounded _fucking divine._

"Yes, please. _Please_," she moaned.

And they did.

James distracted her from the initial push of his finger into her tight hole by licking a swath up her cunt. He latched onto her clit with his tongue and lips, varying the licks and sucks and nibbles and even the thrusts of his tongue inside as he expertly started to work her open, letting even more slick trail down to join his finger in its goal of getting her nice and loose, ready for one of them to take her ass while the other took her cunt.

Oh god, she was going to _die_. Of pleasure. Was it possible to do that? Surely she'd have done that before if it were, considering her history, but _before_ hadn't included two super soldiers who she loved so goddamn much and were so fucking sexy, and who could probably go for days and do feats she could only dream of, and who were hers hers _hers_—

Steve distracted her even further by finally latching onto one of her nipples, licking and lathing and sucking and generally doing an excellent job of frying her synapses along with his mate. He brought his other hand up to cup her other breast with his large palm, then rolled the nipple between his fingers, and it felt like he was making her entire body thrum, her nerves singing from lips to nipples to cunt to toes, and those curling besides.

James started to work a second finger into her ass but let out a growl of frustration at the angle finally working against him a little too much.

Steve pulled back and let out a sympathetic sound, obviously understanding, because within moments he stood and pulled Toni to her feet, claiming her lips with his again and clutching her against him as he ran his hands tightly over her body, now covered fully again by her dress—but not for long. There were sounds of cloth rustling, a zipper being pulled down, and then Steve's hands were under her hair and undoing her halter top, letting it all fall to her waist, leaving her top covered only by the silver and blue necklace still somehow swinging down her back, though her front was bare to Steve's hungry eyes. James' hands were in her skirt, tugging it down and off of her, and Steve was lifting her out, only to guide her down and over James' hips, where he was lying back on the crinkled pile of his suit and—yards and yards of—her dress.

She had time for one last semi-coherent thought—the blue and black of her dress sure as hell framed him nicely—before James was threading his hands into her hair and pulling her into a kiss. A gentle one, compared to everything else, slowing her down just a little and turning her thoughts into molasses instead of giving her time to think like one would expect. His kiss was just that goddamn _sweet_, but also consuming, and oh god she'd never expected a kiss like his would practically flatline her thoughts until she was focused on just him and only—

Steve pressed against her back, skin to skin, the tops of his thighs searing into the back of hers, her ass pressed against his hot and hard length, and _fuck_, no she hadn't forgotten about him but she'd lost track at least, and he laughed into her ear even as one of his hands gathered up the lengths of her necklace, wrapping them tighter and tighter around his fist. He pulled her back and away from James and his wonderful mouth, just enough to get the other man to growl a little territorially.

_That_ sent a thrill through her, all of it, necklace and growl and tight hard length of Steve pressed against her and _oh_, James pulled her hips tighter and closer to her, nudging his own length against her swollen cunt.

"Yes," she gasped out. "I remember you're there, don't worry."

James let a smile curl the corners of his lips up. "You ready, doll?"

Toni fleetingly thought about protection, but no, _no_, she needed them now and wanted to _feel them_, and she'd dreamed of one day carrying their children like the lovesick fool she was. And her body was still fucked up and out of sorts from the suppressants and Afghanistan, and it wasn't her heat so the chances were low—if she ever had a heat again, that is—so…

If it happened, it happened, and they'd work around it. They would never treat her differently just because she was with child, beyond showering her with devotion, she _knew_, she just knew…

Someday.

"I was born ready," she rasped out, instead of saying everything that was filling her heart, wanting to spill from her lips, and leak from her eyes.

Still, James caught on at least a little, and his laughter and happiness softened just a little—it didn't lessen, it just… morphed. Steve took his cues from James' body language, and pressed soft kisses against her throat after pulling her hair over her other shoulder, brushing his lips over the links of silver chain and sapphires pressed tightly into her flesh. The softness contrasted _so well_ with the strength of his hand, the dig of the chains… James leaned up and kissed her, gently, softly, _lovingly,_ before taking her hips in his hands with great gentleness and sinking slowly, _carefully_, into her cunt.

The three of them let out varying degrees of groans as she sunk down, James and Toni against each other's lips and Steve against Toni's throat, before Steve decided to trail his lips down Toni's spine. Steve pressed his lips firmly and carefully against each knob of her spine as James stilled within her, his hands holding her hips down tightly against his and just _relishing_ in the feel of him in her, her over him, Steve's hands on her, and just— _fuck_.

Finally, Steve's lips travelled from the base of her spine to play in the little dip above her hole, and Toni whimpered, trying to shift just enough to get him to touch her where she _wanted_. Because she did, oh she did. Hands, fingers, _tongue_, it didn't matter, she just wanted him to open her up finally, so she could have him in her, have him in her at the same time as James, feeling like she was _one_ with them both.

And then he _did_, mmmmm oh fuck, he did. He pushed her down on top of James, pushed James back against the deck and his makeshift pillow, and James brought his hands and mouth alike up to her breasts, lavishing attention on them while Steve angled her, dipping two thick fingers into her hole straightaway after dragging slick from where she and James were joined. She couldn't help but shiver as he worked her open, practically falling apart as her slick softened her muscles more than any lube could.

James ground up into her lightly, and she met him with little swivels of her hips, as much as she could while trying to hold still, to be _good_, for Steve.

He rewarded her with a third finger, the stretch still _burning_ despite the slick but giving her life, oh fuck did it ever, because she was being worshipped by two men who she worshipped in turn, and this, _this_—it was a long time in coming.

"I'm ready, please, please, I'm ready." Her breath broke off into a gasp as she felt the beginning of James' knot start to swell and push against the walls just inside her. "Mmm oh god, please," she begged, pulling forward against the press of the chains of her necklace against her throat while simultaneously trying to push down on James within her _and_ the press of Steve's fingers as well.

It was an exercise in the impossible.

But they grinned and helped her out, whispering delicious, loving words to her as they adjusted their bodies so that Steve could have room to finally push against her, hands now free and both tight around her hips—she could feel the bruises she'd have later, and she knew she would relish in them, would she ever…

With the light of the moon shining down on them and the near-silence of the lake and the far reach of the grounds around them, her arc reactor glowed from between her breasts as James pressed tender kisses around it. Steve finally pushed the blunt tip of his cock against Toni's wet hole, slowly pushing inside. It was looser than it might have otherwise been as a result of the slick, but Toni still whined, gasped, and then finally moaned as the tip finally popped in past her sensitive rim. The rest of the slide in was one long glide, one long _groan_ of pleasure, until he was seated balls-deep, his knot already starting to push against her rim, stretching it painfully but oh _so gloriously_.

"Divine," she gasped out. "Feels fucking divine."

Steve whispered, "_yes_," as he pressed his entire front against her back, then dug his teeth into the gland on her neck that was starting to swell in response to just… _everything_.

Toni hissed in pleasure.

"My thoughts exactly," James ground out, before admitting, "Fuck, I'm not going to last long at this rate. I've been hard almost all night, _goddamn Toni_, you were—_are_ a sight, you're so beautiful, fuck, Steve, _move_."

And they did, oh lord did they ever.

The two of them started to move, three if you counted Toni's impatient grinds and swivels and pushes, and it took them a number of thrusts before they found a rhythm that worked for them all. Steve was holding her still, James' hands moving all over her and setting the rest of her nerves on _fire_, as the two of them thrust up and into her in sync, and then out, together, leaving her feeling so _empty_ for the bare second or two before she was being filled deliciously all over again. Her insides felt so raw, on fire, but in that way that was so _good_, that meant you were getting fucked _right_. The way that would leave you seeing stars before the night was through—and not the real kind.

Toni's head lolled back onto Steve's shoulder, and he dug his teeth into the bonding gland at the same time as James angled his cock _just so_, and pressed his thumb _hard_ against her clit, and Toni cried out loud and long as she came with a shock—she hadn't been anywhere near close a moment before—but Steve's sharp canines digging into the softer tissue of her mating gland, breaking skin and letting their bonding hormones combine might have had something to do with it.

It was the exquisite sharpness of his teeth in her skin, sinking in and marking her indelibly as _his_, the firm and confident push of James' fingers and cock, filling her, pushing against her, his knot swelling even further and starting to catch as he pushed back into her.

_That_ was what set her off, she was sure—_not_ that she was in any state to analyze this, _god_, she was just along for the ride at this point.

Steve growled into her throat, teeth still dug deep into her skin, as his knot pushed against her rim, and he wrapped one arm around her, forearm under her breasts, and used the other to wrap tight around his knot so that he could _come_—some day, Toni swore, she'd work herself as open as she could with her slick so that he could knot her ass fully, and that thought made her clench even tighter around James, her insides fluttering around him.

Toni took that and ran with it, clenching tight around James and Steve and then loosening, grinding herself into them both, and finally Steve was the first to let go. He spilled hot and wet into her ass, his knot clasped tight in his fist but she could still feel it pressed as tight against the outside of her rim as it could get without actually being in her, and _fuck_, it felt good. And it felt _good_ to know that she had this effect on him, that _she_ had made him come, that he was coming _inside_ her, fuck.

That he _loved_ her, and was now her mate, as the mark on her neck would show to _all_.

Just as she loved James, who pushed himself up until he was nearly sitting, pressing as much of his front against hers as he could, and reached for her neck, for her bonding gland, to make her _his_, and he _hers_—

His arms wrapped around her to encompass them both. Steve, who was still shuddering, and who was nuzzling into her throat, licked at their bond mark, licking away the mix of blood and bonding hormones that were still seeping from the mark.

They stilled for a moment, all pressed together, taking in the moment, taking in a breath…

James pushed aside her hair as best he could without the use of his hands, and found his way to her other gland, primed and ready and welcoming him to bite down.

He did, _fuck_ he did.

His teeth sunk in, harder and faster and more primal than Steve had done, Toni wrapped in between them, closer than ever with them in more ways than one, more than she'd ever thought possible with anyone.

Steve slumped against her back just a little bit, but grabbed one of James' hands from around them both, and pulled it down and in between James and Toni, until their hands were on her, pushing against the knot that was starting to inflate, accompanied by a groan from James as he started to come, pushing the knot until it was fully seated inside her, and then they pressed both of their thumbs against her clit and rubbed, twisted, flicked—_everything_, learning her body and what she liked best until she fell apart in their arms, senses overwhelming her.

James' teeth in her skin, marking her, claiming her, becoming one with her, with Steve, all three of them, just the way they were meant to be.

Their hands on her clit, Steve's other hand reaching for the chains of her necklace again and winding them tight as he pressed his lips against the chains denting her neck just above James and the mark he was leaving—brushing his lips over his mate's as James sunk his teeth in a little deeper with a whine—and _oh_ they would leave marks, letting everyone know she was claimed and that her mates _pleased_ her. Fuck, they sure did.

She was coming harder than she could ever remember, even harder than the first time that night, and her back arched between the tight press of their bodies, the tight press of the necklace and their lips and their hands and—

Toni gasped as her muscles tightened even further, and she spasmed hard again around James' hard knot, filling her, pushing against her walls and sealing him inside, come pulsing into her cunt just the way it was always meant to, _fuck_.

Her vision and other senses finally started to clear, though her nerves were still a lost cause, apparently, because she was twitching still—around James' cock, around Steve's still hard cock even as he pulled out of her with a whimper, her legs and arms twitching every so often as her nerves fired. She'd never felt so fucked out, and she'd _barely done a thing_.

"That's not even the half of it, doll," James whispered into her throat.

Toni reached up with trembling hands and brushed her own hair from off of James' head, where it had covered him near completely in the absolute rush of their combined orgasms. "What's that?" she rasped.

"Give us a few minutes and we'll rock your world even harder," the punk replied sassily, looking up through his eyelashes at her.

Oh. Well, she'd apparently been thinking out loud.

Toni groaned at the thought, fingers clenching as they threaded through James' hair. She watched as Steve pressed a kiss to James' forehead as he moved out from behind Toni, and then leaned down to claim a lingering, loving, _breathtaking_ kiss from his mate's lips. His mate of _decades_, Toni thought with wonder, and just a little bit of nervousness at her new status—but it was like the two were already attuned to her… who was she kidding? They _were_ attuned to her, had been for over a year of friendship and _apparently_ from four months of dating and two of courting, because Toni was absolutely _oblivious_ about people, at times. They were perfect for each other, and Steve exhibited it then by brushing her hair back from her forehead and kissing it, murmuring, "_my mate,_" against her skin before pulling back with a smile. A smile for _her_, for their newfound bond, for the years to come.

After a moment he drew back and then adjusted them all onto their sides, resting on his elbow and spooning tightly up against James' back—and groaning at the obviously _lovely_ contact against his cock—but stifling it and settling himself down, apparently content to relish in the press of skin against skin. He settled in behind James, but he kept his eyes on Toni's face as he caressed her cheek, her breast, and then rested his hand tentatively on top of her arc reactor.

Toni cushioned her head with one arm and then reached up with the other to press Steve's hand tighter over the glass of the reactor. Her heart felt full, beats strong beneath her breast, practically thudding against the arc reactor under Steve's hand.

"I like it like this. I want this for a little longer," Toni murmured, happiness and drowsiness alike filling her as the adrenaline of the last however long started to seep away. She clenched around James' knot, however, a twinkle in her eye. "I like feeling you like this. I like your cock—both of them—" a heated look at Steve over James' shoulder, "and I could have you in me for _hours_." She groaned at the thought.

Her thoughts were cut off as Steve surged up over Bucky's shoulder and kissed her long and hard. When he pulled back, James kissed her hard, but in that way of his that carried gentleness, even still.

"This is good for now," she panted in the wake of their kisses, as they gathered her up close.

"Hm," James hummed throatily. "It is. But I'll hold you to that for next time." He grinned at her and nipped at her lips.

_Next time_.

God, there would be a _next time_.

She looked down at her hand covering Steve's, the sapphires and rubies glinting bright and beautiful in the light that kept her alive.

"This is perfect," she said. "With you, like this."

They agreed.

"Plus, give the poor normal human a break, kay? I've been dancing all night, and then I get _pounced on_ and _claimed_ in front of hundreds, and then pounced on and _taken_, all by these dastardly super soldie—"

James covered her mouth with his, her muffled laughter lingering with those of Steve's as he pressed his face into James' neck.

"We're your mates, and you're _ours_," James growled as he pulled back, though his eyes were lit with enough laughter to offset the seriousness of his words, his tone.

Toni didn't discount it. She let her laughter smooth out into a soft smile. "Yes, alpha," she purred coyly, though just as seriously.

She was theirs.

They were _hers_.

Finally.


End file.
